"That's very simple, but it’s difficult to do," she added. "You cannot sustain housing without an income. You cannot sustain housing without some kind of community around them. With chronic homelessness, you see the community has broken down around them.”

Nashville grows and so does its homeless population

However, these days the market is catering to the higher-income earner in Nashville and landlords can demand market-rate rents.

Average rents have risen from $844 a month in January 2011 to $1,379 in September 2017, according to RentJungle.

Working-class and low-income residents are feeling the squeeze of rising rents and cost of living; the struggle is even more acute for people without a home.

There have been strides made to end homelessness as organizations have worked closer together in efforts such as "How's Nashville."

This is a communitywide effort created by the homelessness commission in 2013 to end homelessness by collecting data, offering financial assistance to help move people into housing and tracking progress.

The permanent housing placement rate for homeless residents grew from 19 people a month to 54 a month over a two-year period.

That meets only a fraction of the need.

The official population of homeless people in Nashville is 2,365, based on the 2016 annual count on the streets, which saw a 9.8 percent increase from the previous year.

Homeless men and women line up to receive a meal under the Kelly Miller Smith memorial bridge Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, in Nashville.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Meanwhile, the national count of about 550,000 dropped by 2.6 percent.

Homeless activists, however, say there are thousands more uncounted, living in motels and hotels, at car washes, in tents and camps outdoors, and on friends’ and families’ couches.

They are people who have fallen through the cracks for complicated reasons.

Those reasons vary: a job loss, an eviction, a divorce, domestic violence, substance abuse, criminal record, mental illness, or a breakdown of family, religious and social institutions around them.

They have felt invisible and voiceless, even by the people who are trying to work to end homelessness.

‘What do the homeless look like?’

Howard Allen, 56, co-founder of the Nashville Homeless Underground, describes himself as "houseless" for the last 15 years. He has been an advocate for the homeless community and a critic of the system.

“That's one thing about being houseless: People want to control you, they think you're ignorant, you're stupid, you're beyond repair,” he said. “We have our own community.

"That's what needs to be broken: the stereotypes.

A volunteer gives Howard Allen a haircut on the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, in Nashville. Howard Allen, 56, co-founder of the Nashville Homeless Underground, describes himself as "houseless" for the last 15 years.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

That march started at the park outside the Nashville Public Library's main branch in downtown and ended at Barry's office to present her a petition calling on the city to meet the needs of residents living in poverty.

Allen, who has spent time in jail, been shot twice and contended with substance abuse, also has spoken at the annual Riverfront Park memorial for homeless people who died on the streets.

“We haven't had a good conversation about it in the city yet.”

Charles Strobel, founder, Room In the Inn

He sleeps in a tent outdoors except during the wintertime when congregations working with Room In the Inn provide him and others shelter.

“I’m being judged if I’m living in a tent,” he said. “They judge me.”

Charles Strobel, a retired Catholic priest and founder of Room In the Inn, which opened in 1986 and works with 200 congregations today, said people tend to unfairly stereotype those who are homeless.

“What happens is awful, stifling despair and hopelessness,” Strobel said. “It looks like a choice, it looks like laziness, and it isn't. It's the inability to navigate through these systems in a way that connects us.”

Room In the Inn helped divert homeless people from downtown to its building off Lafayette Street with classes, 39 apartments for permanent housing, shelter, food service and compassion.

However, it is only one organization, and Nashville as a whole still struggles to face this growing problem that is a thorn in the side of its “it city" narrative.

“We haven't had a good conversation about it in the city yet,” Strobel said.

Michael McEwen takes a rest at the Public Square outside the Metro Courthouse Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017 in Nashville, Tenn. McEwen has struggled with homelessness for close to 5 years.(Photo: George Walker IV, George Walker IV / The Tennessea)

Lamont Jones carries his backpack to a van as he and others load into a van to go to a shelter to sleep for the night Friday evening, Oct. 13, 2017 in Nashville, Tenn. Jones finds it hard to find steady employment in the restaurant industry while living on streets.(Photo: George Walker IV, George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Tim Smith loads into a van as he and other homeless people are taken to a shelter Friday evening, Oct. 13, 2017 in Nashville, Tenn. Smith came from New Orleans after escaping Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Photo: George Walker IV, George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Wendell Segroves spends time with his dog Argo at his campsite Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, in Nashville. Segroves has been homeless since 2004 and serves on the Metro Homelessness Commission.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Wendell Segroves checks his phone as he spends time with his dog Argo at his campsite Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, in Nashville. Segroves has been homeless since 2004.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

CIVIL RIGHTS TOUR: Howard Allen finds inspiration to continue his advocacy for the homeless in the civil rights room of the Metro Nashville Public Library on Oct. 23, 2017. Allen, who is homeless himself, spends a large part of his days at the downtown library.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

A volunteer gives Howard Allen a haircut on the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, in Nashville. Howard Allen, 56, co-founder of the Nashville Homeless Underground, describes himself as "houseless" for the last 15 years.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Nikki Harper and Charles Dickerson who live in their car enjoy a free meal under the Kelly Miller Smith memorial bridge Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 in Nashville, Tenn..(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Damon Sanderson, 24, waits for a haircut outside a mobile shower truck for the homeless parked on Seventh Avenue on Oct. 23, 2017, in Nashville. Sanderson was kicked out of his home when he was 15 after coming out as gay to his mother.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

'We have designed a place where people don't have housing'

It was a warm Wednesday morning, Oct. 4, when Ingrid McIntyre reminded an audience of religious leaders, housing advocates and homeless residents how marginalized communities have historically suffered so much.

The co-founder and executive director of Open Table Nashville addressed a group gathered for the groundbreaking of the Village at Glencliff.

This collaboration between Open Table and Glencliff United Methodist Church will be a community of 22 micro-homes on the church’s grounds, meant to house homeless people who come out of the hospital to heal and eventually apply for more permanent housing.

“Far too often organizations who work with people living on the margins have to scrape the crumbs from underneath the table,“ McIntyre said. “Today I have a whole loaf of bread.”

Wendell Segroves spends time with his dog Argo at his campsite Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, in Nashville. Segroves has been homeless since 2004 and serves on the Metro Homelessness Commission.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

She took a shot at the city’s investments and proposals for a Major League Soccer team and other projects.

“We talk a lot about soccer fields and pedestrian bridges and expensive high-rise apartments, but not very often do we talk about what is essential,” she said.

Several elected officials attended the groundbreaking, including Vice Mayor David Briley, who said: “I’m here to ask for forgiveness.”

“We have designed a place and accepted a place where there's too much violence and poverty,” he said. “We have designed a place where people don't have housing."

That stereotype of the homeless person as dangerous still persists, but oftentimes homeless people are the ones who are preyed on.

Consider:

On Aug. 26 Metro Nashville police say Katie Layne Quackenbush shot two bullets into the abdomen of Gerald Melton, after they got into an argument. He was trying to sleep on a sidewalk on Music Row, and had complained to her that the exhaust fumes from her Porsche SUV were bothering him.

“I definitely spent a lot of my time reporting dispelling stereotypes,” said Amelia Ferrell Knisely, a former editor for The Contributor, the newspaper that reports on homelessness and is sold on the streets by homeless vendors.

She covered homeless residents in tent city encampments, on the streets and in motels.

She found that people felt the safest in camps even as they have come and gone. A tent city off Hermitage near the Cumberland River was destroyed by the 2010 Nashville flood. Metro government cleared homeless camps from Fort Negley in 2016.

“I spent a vast majority of time on how someone can become homeless,” she said. “I don’t like the argument that it’s OK for people to be pushed out of the city.”

Homeless people in Nashville represent all backgrounds.

“They’re not invisible, but they feel invisible.”

Glenn Cranfield, president and CEO of the Nashville Rescue Mission

They are like Scott Wright, who earned several college degrees but became homeless after he lost his job.

They are like Wendell Segroves, who owns his own business but has been homeless since 2004 and serves on the Metro Homelessness Commission.

They are also like 24-year-old Damon Sanderson, who was kicked out of his home for coming out as gay to his mother when he was 15.

Damon Sanderson, 24, waits for a haircut outside a mobile shower truck for the homeless parked on Seventh Avenue on Oct. 23, 2017, in Nashville. Sanderson was kicked out of his home when he was 15 after coming out as gay to his mother.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

“They’re not invisible, but they feel invisible,” said Glenn Cranfield, president and CEO of the Nashville Rescue Mission.

“They’re like the invisible neighbor that nobody wants to have eye contact with, that no one wants to have a conversation with,” he said. “They’re people. They’re not homeless people; they’re people experiencing homelessness.”

"The Mission” shelters 800 people a night and serves 1,800 meals a day. Cranfield said 8,000 individuals received services last year.

So, while the official number of homeless people in Nashville is about one-third of that, the actual number may be far higher, with activists like Howard Allen or Open Table Nashville claiming it is closer to 23,000 to 24,000.

“Until we get real with that number, we’re not going to take the issue seriously,” Knisely said.

How the federal government started funding homeless programs

In the 1980s cities across America began addressing street homelessness by creating a shelter system that worked in tandem with soup kitchens and transitional housing.
Strobel remembers those days — a time when there was a homeless encampment near where Nissan Stadium is today.

The McKinney-Vento Act of 1987, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, was the first major federal response to homelessness and helped pour money into cities to pay for meal and sobriety programs.

“In the late 1990s, it was recognized that the federal government was pouring billions into various programs and they weren’t working,” said Elisha Harig-Blaine, principal housing associate of the National League of Cities.

“What was realized is that a new strategy was necessary,” he said.

Wendell Segroves checks his phone as he spends time with his dog Argo at his campsite Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, in Nashville. Segroves has been homeless since 2004.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

A “Housing First” strategy was adopted. That led to the federal government encouraging cities to create and adopt 10-year plans to end homelessness.

“The problem was they (the plans) didn’t come with any money,” Harig-Blaine said.

Eventually, that evolved into a new approach in 2010 that came with money, such as housing vouchers, and identified specific populations, with veterans as a priority.

“There’s such a powerful connection between apartment renters and homelessness. They did not fall out of home ownership; they fell out of rentership.”

Matthew Doherty, executive director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness

The feds also realized that the only effective way to accomplish the mission of managing homelessness was to have local communities lead.

Matthew Doherty, executive director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, which was created by the McKinney-Vento Act, said the system has evolved so that there is now an emphasis on the coordination of programs, money and other resources to intervene in addressing homelessness.

He has observed what is happening in Nashville with its growth of 74 people a day.

“As the community is experiencing growth, housing doesn’t grow enough,” Doherty said. “You need to remove barriers to development and build rental units at all affordability levels.

“There’s such a powerful connection between apartment renters and homelessness. They did not fall out of homeownership; they fell out of rentership.”

The future of federal funding for the 19 agencies that fund homeless programs is in question. The draft White House budget released earlier this year proposed cutting programs severely.

The federal government is operating under a continuing resolution through Dec. 8. Then Congress will have to act to extend that resolution or pass a new budget.

Willing landlords interested in accepting these vouchers can contact Susan Reeves, Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency VASH program outreach coordinator, at 615-782-3950 or sreeves@nashville-mdha.org.

Tackett, who was named Metro Homelessness Commission director in August after two years as assistant director, said that ending veterans homelessness is a priority along with better data collection and governance.

“There’s no reason for Nashville not to join the 50-plus communities that have done it,” she said.

Nashville has two boards to end homelessness; it needs one

Two different boards exist in Nashville with the same mission to end homelessness.
The Homelessness Commission, created by ordinance in 2004 during Mayor Bill Purcell’s administration, is in Metro government.

The Continuum of Care governance board, created by federal law in 2009, works under the auspices of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, which is separate from Metro government.

Both have board members. Both have their own staff. While they collaborate, they still operate separately.

Howard Allen, who has spent time in jail, been shot twice and contended with substance abuse, is homeless and is an advocate for the homeless.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Key leaders from both Metro and MDHA, however, say Nashville would benefit from a unified effort.

“I believe if we want to move forward, we need to have one board with a clear focus,” Tackett said.

Angela Hubbard, MDHA director of community development, agrees.

“It makes sense to me that to have an effective system, you need to have a unified leadership,” she said.

There are ongoing meetings to work to unite the boards.

“While they’re talking, we’re dying on the streets.”

Howard Allen, co-founder, Nashville Homeless Underground

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, members of both groups met to finalize a presentation that they are making to each entity to start the process of creating one planning council. If successful, it will start operating in mid-2018.

Howard Allen sat in the audience for the meeting, but he was not happy.

Even though he has wanted to see the homelessness commission disbanded and restructured in a new way, he fears that nothing will change with this planning council.

“While they’re talking, we’re dying on the streets,” he said. “They hear us, but they don’t feel. They often talk about us, but we’re not talked to.”